My Two First Loves

From VIP access to our merch store launch, there's been lots of excitement around Choices in July! To close out the month, we're releasing another special new Choices book on July 27th: My Two First Loves (MTFL)! Let's get an inside scoop from the book team: 

Let's start with a little introduction...

Max: I'm the Head of Content for Choices! I'm usually more behind the scenes, helping all of the books get better in small ways, but in this case, I was able to get more involved with the nitty-gritty of structuring and creating My Two First Loves.

Coral: I’ve been a writer here for about three years, working on projects ranging from romance to genre. This book has been one of my favorites to work on for Choices so far. 

Bre: I'm a Junior Writer for Choices. I'm nearing my second full year here, and MTFL was my first deep dive back into high school since I left mine IRL.

Stella: I'm Stella - I'm an art producer at Pixelberry.

Kathy: I am a senior artist and  also the book art lead for MTFL. It has been a fun journey working with a great team on MTFL. 

Brianna: I'm a writer who previously wrote on High School Story and High School Story: Class Act.

High School love can be complicated, and sometimes unexpected... Tell us a bit about the storyline for My Two First Loves. 

Max: MTFL is a coming-of-age story about a girl caught between two guys... and eventually someone else! We really tried to capture the sweetness of awakening to love for the first time, along with all of the heart-wrenching drama that goes with it.

Will there be any exciting new game features in this book?

Max: The headline here is: Daily. For the first time ever, we'll be releasing a new chapter every day instead of once a week! To accommodate that, the chapters will be shorter, and there will also be a lot more of them. 

This change in structure actually led to a couple of significant changes in the storytelling itself. First, because we love our cliffhangers, we ended up creating a *lot* of them, which in turns leads to far more dramatic twists and turns than your typical Choices book. The short format also led us to really concentrate on making each scene, each line of dialogue, each phrase really sing, so I think there's a bit more poetry in our language.

Ooh, so we'll have something to look forward to everyday! Can you give us a hint of who we might fall head over heels for?

Max: Often in Choices, we start with seemingly simple characters that fit tropes. Then, as the story progresses, those tropes get deconstructed, and the true, nuanced vision of each character emerges. At first glance you might see: Boy Next Door. Bad Boy. But as you read, I think you'll find more. To drop an even bigger hint, even our title may be slightly deceiving. Sure, there are two first loves... but that doesn't mean they're your only options.

Coral: I will say this story is very close to my heart, in that we explore love and sexuality in a way you might not expect from the first few chapters. As a woman who went through something similar, I’m excited to be able to write from the perspective of someone learning who they are. And I’m also a sucker for a slow burn...

Brianna: I LOVE a slow burn. The subtle hints, the agonizing over whether a line was intended to sound romantic, the gratification when you finally get what you want... I'll just say that, in my opinion, we saved the best for last. 

Did working on this book remind you of any fond high school memories?

Bre: I was about our MC's age with my first love, so writing these characters' growth–not just in their respective relationships, but also as they grow up together through the year–has been a nice reminder of just how far I've come since then.

Stella: All the references to school events and butterflies-in-stomach feelings around romance brought back high school memories with friends I still talk to today! I actually looked back at school dance photos after doing some research for this on the project...

Kathy: I met my first love in high school. We spent hours playing volleyball every day after school. Things became a bit dramatic after a while, and we broke up a year later. Working on MTFL brings back my old highschool memories for sure.  

Brianna: Much like our MC, I fell for one of my close friends in high school and spent a lot of time pining over them. The end result wasn't quite as exciting as our MC's story... but at least it gave me the experience to write about jealousy and the sweet pain of young love! 

What are you most excited for fans to experience in My Two First Loves?

Coral: Without giving too much away, I’m pumped for the halfway mark. There are some biiiiig surprises that I think our longtime fans will love! 

Bre: I'm really just excited to bring fans the feel of senior year, with all the drama, triumphs, heartache, and fun that come with adulting for the first time.

Stella: I'm excited for fans to hopefully have familiar feelings based off all the book scenarios and moments. It may make for some good nostalgia. 

Max: Get ready for high drama. Get ready to be surprised. And get ready to talk about this on a daily basis, because we've got a lot of chapters ready to go!

And we can't wait to play those chapters and reminisce about high school! 

There ya have it, we're looking forward to launching our first ever daily Choices book -- that's seven chapters a week, starting July 27th! Curious about what's next? We can't give away all our secrets, but... we do have a gender-customizable mystery book in the works and some supernatural surprises. Stay tuned for sneak peeks this August!

-Shae